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Civil Disobedience Dating back as long as history started, there have been disagreements and people fighting for what they believe in. In the United States, civil disobedience can go back to 125 years ago in 1893, involving Gandhi’s first real protest with Native American rights. Small actions that started with someone like Gandhi have shaped America and many other countries into our nations that we have today and the laws that are in place. Civil disobedience can be described as the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. One major action of Civil Disobedience of course dealt with the civil rights movement in the 1950s through the 1960s. One that has currently come into light …show more content…
is laws about abortions. African Americans have been mistreated even before the United States formed as its own country.
They haven’t had the rights and freedom and equality that they deserved. Back in the 1800, a smaller civil rights movement occurred, this partially leading to the civil war that freed slaves and made them citizens, and supposedly gave them the right to vote; which wasn’t always the case. Things didn’t start to get better for African-Americans for a little while after the ‘60s movement. Most of the protests and sit-ins that were held, weren’t violent due to the protestors; but to prejudice people and government officials. Due to leaders such as MLK and Rosa Parks, they were taught that violence from them wouldn’t solve their problem, but only make it worse. Martin Luther King once said himself that “Mass Civil Disobedience can use rage as a constructive and creative force,” this statement is saying that just not being violent and aggressive can show less than if you were calm and peaceful, King believed that stupidity and ignorance does not show your real power, as he also said “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Considering that the mind can be a very powerful thing, I agree with King in both of his statements, inciting violence never really wins in the end. This act of civil disobedience relates to Selma because this was in Selma, and King led a protest in Selma for the right to …show more content…
vote. Another important act of civil disobedience from the past 5 years, is abortions.
At first the law that made abortions legal, was back in 1973; although it’s been in place for some time now, more people are protesting to get abortions illegal or at least put restrictions on the law. This type of civil disobedience has not only existed in the United States, but in places all over the world, although these protests are about making restrictions or completely banning abortions. Many people have tried to show civil disobedience by using the word of God and the commandments of the bible. A classic text is Proverbs 31:8: “Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless”, also commandment number 6, says “You shall not murder”, these verses and commandments from the Bible relates to Selma. In instances like Selma, they were meeting in churches, holding meetings, and even preaching about how these members of the KKK or other groups like that, we're not following the word of God and were fighting for their God given rights. In Romans 2:11 says “For God does not show favoritism”, this is saying that those prejudice had right to say they were not all equal; or attempting to take away their rights in the United States. People all over the work are fighting to save lives and show civil disobedience while doing
so. Although both of these take place in different times of history, the same methods are being used. Some methods have also changed such as internet now. I personally believe both of these subjects are very important in society and still need to be addressed but in a certain manner. Although you have some peaceful protest, not all are; many have been killed or jailed/injured fighting for these rights in civilization. Everyone should have the right to be and feel equal to one another; also someone shouldn’t have the choice to choose if someone lives. Things such as social media and news broadcasts have made the abortion issue more known around the world, although Selma was televised that started to show people what the world was like (but mostly in the United States). Civil disobedience has been shown all throughout history, even back when Jesus was crucified. People will always continue to fight for their beliefs and values. Since the television and radio have come about, more people began to learn about these protests and hear the truth about these events and joined the movements. Racism has been an issue in this country since the very beginning and abortions have always been a moral issue for about 50 years. New issues will arise as others are forgotten; but the methods used by MLK and Ghandi will never be forgotten.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that sometimes laws were unjust. In these cases, King would first attempt negotiating with those who were proponents for the unjust issues or laws. If the negotiations were found to be unsuccessful, King would arrange non violent direct action. Antigone on the other hand, didn’t attempt negotiations, she believed that in certain cases, civil disobedience was necessary, and would do whatever was necessary to do her part of doing what she felt was just.
During the time of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr., freedom for African-Americans was relative terminology in the fact that one was during slavery and the other during the Civil Rights era. “Civil Disobedience,” written by Thoreau, analyzes the duty and responsibility of citizens to protest and take action against such corrupt laws and other acts of the government. Likewise, King conveys to his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” audience that the laws of the government against blacks are intolerable and that civil disobedience should be used as an instrument of freedom. Both writers display effective usage of the pathos and ethos appeal as means to persuade their audience of their cause and meaning behind their writing, although King proves to be more successful in his execution.
In the great era of foundational philosophers, two stand out, Plato and Thoreau. Each had their own opinion on various topics, especially on civil disobedience. Plato’s life span was approximately 428-348 BC. Plato wrote numerous works throughout his lifetime, however we will be focusing on one, the Crito. Thoreau’s life span was 1817-1862. To help us determine what civil disobedience means to both of these philosophers we will first look at a general definition. According to Merriam-Webster civil disobedience is defined as “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” This definition will act as a springboard to compare and contrast both of their thoughts on the topic. We will determine, according to Plato and Thoreau, when we are called to engage in civil disobedience and when the moral parameters of civil disobedience are pushed too far.
Civil disobedience is a form of non-violent direct action and respectful disagreement. Martin Luther King Jr. is most famous for his role in leading the African American Civil Rights Movement and using non-violent civil disobedience to promote his beliefs. He strongly believed that civil disobedience was the way to eliminate racial segregation against African Americans. While leading a protest march on the streets, King was arrested and sent to jail. In jail, he read an article written by a group of clergymen arguing against King’s acts of civil disobedience, saying that racial segregation should be negotiated in the courts, rather than in the streets, and accused King of causing unnecessary tension. In response to this, King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail, explaining that racial segregation is an injustice that affects everyone. In his letter, King lists his own criteria for acts of civil disobedience. In 1859, a white man named John Brown attempted to launch a series of slave revolts by raiding an army arsenal in Virginia. His motivation was to inspire a revolution to end slavery. Brown planned to gather groups of slaves throughout his raid to further carry out series of revolts. John Brown’s raid on Harper Ferry in 1859 meets many of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s standards for direct action and should be regarded as justified acts of civil disobedience.
The act of civil disobedience existed for a long time, dating back to the Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and early Christians. The height of the civil rights movement was the 1950’s to 1960’s. During this time period, many activists fought for racial equality and rights. Civil disobedience was practiced by these people who fought for racial equality and rights. Martin Luther King Jr. and Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mocking Bird used civil disobedience as an act of fighting back against injustice in order for a better society. These two people, Martin Luther King Jr. and Atticus Finch, of the time of the 20th century practiced civil disobedience in the name of justice.
On The Duty of Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, explains that civil disobedience is the act of standing for your beliefs even though they are against the law. Thoreau goes on to say that the government (because it is ruled by the majority) is not always right for everyone especially the individual and the minority. Over the course of American history, there have been many different groups formed for the purpose of civil disobedience. The two that I am going to focus on are the activists of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers of the Black Liberation Movement. The Civil Rights Movement began in 1954 with the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education. It was basically lead by Martin Luther King Jr. whose teachings were of peaceful protesting and boycotting in order to achieve the goals of integration and equality for Black Americans (Small). The Black Liberation Movement started a few years later in 1960 and was later taken over and popularized by the Black Panthers in 1966. The basis of this movement was not just black equality but also black independence by any and every means necessary. The Panthers wanted blacks to be in control of their own neighborhoods (Acoli). These two protest movements had similar but at the same time very different platforms. The difference their effectiveness was caused by the difference in the techniques.
The Civil Rights Movement was a series of actions that really peaked in the 1960's. These political actions were aimed at gaining rights for African Americans. However, there were two ways of going about the movement. There were ones who protested peacefully, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and others who wanted a more pro-active way of fighting, like the black-rights activist Malcolm X. However, which way was more proactive? Even though both had great intentions, Dr. Martin Luther King had a better way of trying to achieve rights for the African American community.
Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil
In the Theory of Justice by John Rawls, he defines civil disobedience,” I shall begin by defining civil disobedience as a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government”.
Likewise, violent protests raise awareness in a negative and oftentimes irrational light. Following the tragic shooting of Michael Brown in the fall of 2014***, countless riots shed light on a new twist on a century-old issue; race in America. The man shot was an African-American, unarmed, young adult. He was shot by a white police officer who believed the young man to be a threat to his safety. His death became the catalyst for the modern Black Lives Matter movement’s stance on equality in American justice systems. While the movement places an emphasis on a need for change, much like Martin Luther King did in the 1960’s, the mass riots from Ferguson, Missouri to Baltimore, Maryland contradict civil disobedience. The riots caused hundreds of vandalisms, countless injuries of police officers in both cities, and created fear for the movement. Awareness for the issues were raised because of this movement, but the violent initial spark of it derailed the solid proof of the need for change. This further proves the necessity that civil disobedience is on a free society; peaceable expression of views has a heavier weight when it comes to altering the course of a
Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by the use of passive resistance or other nonviolent means. The use of nonviolence runs throughout history however the fusion of organized mass struggle and nonviolence is relatively new.
At the time, Selma was populated by 15,100 Negroes and 14,400 whites, a probable place to start such a cause. The protests began when Martin Luther King Jr., and a couple of other people, registered in a white hotel. James Baldwin was there. However, when more blacks tried to register, they were arrested by the county sheriff. This resulted in marches and protests. One of the first riots involved around 400 demonstrators who were dispersed by state troopers. During the protest, one man, Jim Lee Jackson, was shot and killed, presumably by a state trooper. (“Central Point” 23).
Civil disobedience has been around for a long time. In Bible times Christians would disobey laws that would go against their beliefs, such as the law that they couldn’t preach. (Acts 4) Christians still disobey laws in many countries that do not let them practice their faith, some end up in jail or killed.
By definition, civil disobedience means to actively refuse to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government or of an occupying power without resorting to physical violence (Wikipedia 2007). Many of the influential people in history have felt passionately about what they believe. These passions caused them to rebel against a government or authority. Many times they felt so strongly about what they believed and how they were being treated was wrong they became disobedient. They would take physical and verbal abuse for being disobedient but would never retaliate. They believed in what they thought was wrong and tried to change the way they were governed. Albert Einstein once said 'never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.' Albert Einstein's views seem to be reasonable. The claim by Albert Einstein is accurate because people should stand up for what they believe, they should know when they are right and their government is wrong, and they should trust in themselves and their own beliefs.
Throughout history, changes and movements have come in many different and unexpected forms. One form of change, disobedience, has continued to dominate the others in terms of effectiveness. Some of the greatest alterations made to the world have stemmed from some form of disobedience, such as the founding of the protestant church under Martin Luther and English Reformation. Often, the disobedience resulted from conflicting religious beliefs and interpretations of religious works. The history and formation of the United States of American provide an example of how disobedience shapes a nation. Disobedience of unjust laws, based on divine authority, laid the foundation of the American identity.